


Love Notes

by TisBee



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: But this is starkid, Come on, Emma is nervous, F/M, Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF, paul is oblivious, proposal!, pure as heck, theres some swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-24 23:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22006117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TisBee/pseuds/TisBee
Summary: Emma wants to marry Paul.
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	Love Notes

_You’re cute._ The little post it note read, and Emma smiled, tucking it into her pocket to reply to later. Now, she needed to get to work.

It all started when Emma made Paul a packed lunch.

It wasn’t her fault he wasn’t eating, but she decided to slip a few notes in to make sure he was paying attention.

This began a whole entourage of notes appearing in all sorts of places around the house, and a lot of loud laughter coming unexpectedly from the other side of the small flat they shared.

Paul had already left, no doubt with half the notes she had been planning to use, but she was already running late, and she didn’t have time for much else, so she just ran to Beanies before Nora could begin to think about shouting at her.

She wasn’t exactly focussed at the best of times at work, but today Nora had to snap her back to reality so many times that even Zoey became concerned.

“Seriously Emma? What do I even pay you for? If you aren’t going to do any work, don’t come in for your next shift.” Nora berated her, far from the first thing she’d had to say.

“Sorry Nora.” Emma muttered, rushing to serve a customer.

She wasn’t even thinking about the note.

She was thinking about Paul.

The two of them had been together for three years, and Emma had never really connected with anyone so quickly before.

She’d never really been in a situation like it before. And she liked it. Almost as much as she loved Paul.

She’d fallen head over heels.

She wanted to marry him.

Woah. Where did that come from? _Marriage?_ That wasn’t something she wanted. That was what Jane wanted. And she could have her stable life. But Emma didn’t want that. Did she? Now she was questioning everything. It was Paul. She only wanted to marry someone if it was him.

Taking the now crumpled note out of her pocket, she read it over once more before scribbling her reply. She’d put it back later, tucking it into the drawer she had found it in.

Just like she tucked all thoughts of marriage away in a dark part of her mind.

*

Paul got home after Emma. This wasn’t a rare occurrence, but usually she was up and waiting for her. Today, he saw her passed out on their bed. He leant over and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. He opened the drawer and saw the note there. He smiled, picking it up gently.

It was quite scrunched up, with a few bits of fluff inside, and he figured it had been in her pocket all day.

_Not as cute as you,_ it said, and he couldn’t help but beam. He loved her with all he had. How had that happened? But it had and he wouldn’t change it for the world. Since he’d met Emma his life had changed, for the better. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

That was a weird thought. The rest of his life? That was a lot. And Emma didn’t want that! They could barely label themselves as boyfriend and girlfriend and neither of them knew how to get around anything. They were just so _awkward_ but it was out of love and it wasn’t an act, it was raw.

And neither of them knew how to deal with that.

Cause they were both dumb as shit.

Paul hesitated before scribbling out a quick reply.

_I love you._

He fell asleep almost immediately curled up next to Emma.

*

When she woke up, she saw Paul looking so peaceful in his sleep. And she resolved there and then to go and get a ring.

But first she had to go to work.

She knew as soon as she opened up that the day would be long and tedious, for a start, it was drizzling, so that meant hardly anyone would come in, and it was _cold._

Well, she could have expected that given that it was three days to Christmas. And there was another reason the shop would be empty for most of the day.

Who on earth would be out and about three days before Christmas? Emma would really prefer not to be out. But she was. And she was alone. Because Zoey was rehearsing for some shitty show and Nora was probably still asleep. Emma didn’t blame her.

She was right. No one came in for a solid hour and a half and in that time, she made herself a grand total of only three coffees, which wasn’t much compared to usual.

She was jittery, burning herself more than once making one drink, and nerves jumbled in her stomach. And she didn’t know why she was feeling so anxious. It wasn’t like she was going to propose to him right then and there.

Being in love was hard.

When the sun began to set, she decided to close up an hour early. What was the point of staying open if no one was going to come in?

So she headed towards the market.

Grey clouds had begun to settle over the busy bustling clouds, the streets full of people pushing and stumbling.

The way was bright with pretty lights strung between trees and lampposts. Snow fell in perfect flakes, settling down evenly on the ground. It was cold, and was getting colder by the minute and so Emma was glad to see a small shop she could go into.

She pushed open the door and a small bell tinkled above her. It was dimly lit, and few people chose to linger inside. Glass cases lined the outskirts, filled with pieces of jewellery- rings and bracelets and necklaces. Emma glanced at them, recalling how Paul had often glanced inside.

She didn’t know why though.

Pulling her coat further around her despite the cost shop being warm and comforting, she couldn’t help but worry about what she was doing.

She was so nervous. And it was irrational, she knew. She had been so set on doing this that she’d barely even thought about it. What if Paul had never loved her at all? What if he wanted to break up with her? What if he hadn’t loved her in the first place?

A calm, clear voice cut through her thoughts and she turned to face a concerned girl watching her with wide eyes.

“Are you ok? Can I help you?” She asked.

“Um, yeah.” She took a deep breath. “I want to propose to my boyfriend.”

“Oh congratulations! What kind of ring do you think he’d like?” She asked smiling.

“I have no idea. Um not something too flashy?”

“Do you know what ring size he is?”

“Not at all.”

This was hopeless. How was she meant to get anything done like this? She didn’t know anything.

But the girl stayed upbeat.

Emma really did appreciate that, knowing that she was probably very tired and done with all of this. She certainly knew the feeling.

“Sorry for all of this.” She sighed.

“It’s ok! I’m happy to help.”

“I work in retail too. It’s ok.”

The girl visibly relaxed. “Where do you work?”

“Beanies, the coffee shop.”

“Oh, I go in there all the time! I’m Jenna.”

“Emma.” She smiled.

The two continued to chatter, exchanging stories about terrible customers and where they worked. It was completely dark soon, and Emma still didn’t have a ring. She glanced outside, her smile falling. She really did have no idea what to do. And she wanted to be with him so much. Forever.

Jenna paused, then pulled out a ring she thought would be ok. “You can come back if it doesn’t fit.” She offered.

“Thank you so much, come into Beanies sometime soon.”

“I will! And it’s been a pleasure.”

Emma paid for the ring, tucking it into her pocket safely and she suddenly felt so much lighter than she’d been in ages. Now she just needed to find the courage to actually propose. And she really hoped she would. She had a ring, at least. It was a start.

When she unlocked the door, before she could even step through, Paul was there pulling her into a tight hug.

“Oh, hello Paul. You ok?” She asked, surprised.

“Just missed you.” He said quietly, leaning down to kiss her gently.

“I missed you too babe.” She said, beaming.

She couldn’t wait for Christmas Day.

But of course time would make her wait for it, and nerves festered at the pit of her stomach for the entire time. And she still had work. With Zoey of all people, who couldn’t work out why Emma was constantly switching between giddy with happiness and almost silent, fear etched in her eyes.

Not that she did any of that when she thought Zoey was watching her. But Zoey was watching her.

“Emma, are you ok?” She asked dryly after Emma had reached into her pocket to look at something fo the millionth time that day.

“Yeah, but what do you care?” She asked, sitting on the counter she had just cleaned.

“Oh look you’re right.” Zoey sighed, going back to making a coffee for herself.

It was on of the rare days when hardly anyone was in and both of them were bored to hell. They even managed to have a civilised conversation for once in their lives. Nora would be proud. Well, she probably wouldn’t be proud of the amount of coffee they were consuming, but she wasn’t there. It was shitty anyway, so who cared?

The bell to the door jingled and Emma hopped off the counter and smiled when she saw it was Jenna.

“Hi Emma! How are you?”

“Oh you have friends?” Zoey asked sipping her coffee.

Emma rolled her eyes but didn’t give Zoey a response. “I’ve been ok. You?”

“I’m alright. Have you decided how you’ll do it?” Her voice growing quieter.

“I’ve no idea. Definitely on Christmas Day. When we’re alone.” She paused. “I don’t wanna be rejected in front of lots of people.” She said in a dark voice.

“You won’t be! Listen, the worst that’ll happen is that he’ll say no.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m scared of.” She sighed.

On Christmas Eve, Emma barely slept. She had placed the box in between the presents under the tree, and she still wasn’t sure how she’d find the words to actually propose to him. Maybe she’d just get down on one knee and stay silent. Who knew! Maybe she wouldn’t even do it. If she didn’t, she didn’t know if she could forgive herself.

She really did want to do this. But what if he didn’t?

She rolled over, deciding that was enough thinking for the day. She found it quite hard to fall asleep.

But, of course, she did, and she awoke to Paul looking like a little kid excitedly throwing the duvet off.

She smiled, going downstairs and positioning herself nearest the tree.

“I’ll hand out the presents.” She said and he beamed.

“Go ahead.”

Together they worked their way through the small pile of presents and as it got smaller, Emma’s heart got tighter and tighter. Wrapping paper was scattered around the room and laughter filled the air.

And then all the presents were gone and before Emma even knew what was happening she was on one knee and Paul was crying.

“I love you. A lot. More than words can say. And- and uh- I don’t really know what to say but I want to marry you. I really do. Um- if you do. Uh, you don’t have to say yes. I know I kind of sprung it on you-”

Paul cut her off with a kiss.

“So is that a yes or a no?” She asked nervously.

“Yes, of course it’s a yes!” He exclaimed happily, picking her up and spinning her around. “Merry Christmas Emma.”

She put the ring on him. A perfect fit.

“Merry Christmas fiancé.” She said. “I love you.”

“I love you too fiancée.”


End file.
